Fixtures

Chelsea 0-1 Man City

Antonio Conte’s Chelsea were beaten by Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City on Saturday evening, thanks to Kevin De Bruyne’s 67-minute goal.

It was the first time Pep Guardiola had beaten a Chelsea side in normal or extra time, having faced them last season in the Premier League, and in the Champions League when he was Barcelona and then Bayern Munich manager.

Conte started a strong line-up, with Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and Gary Cahill in a back three in front of Thibaut Courtois.

Victor Moses was rested after the midweek win against Atletico Madrid, with Cesar Azpilicueta joining Marcos Alonso on the wings.

N’golo Kante and Tiemoue Bakayoko were joined in a midfield three by Cesc Fabregas, while Eden Hazard moved forward to join Alvaro Morata in a front two.

Cesc Fabregas almost caught the City defence off their guard twice in the early stages, both times finding Morata with a clever ball. The first time the chance was missed, and the second time Morata was just offside when the ball was played.

At the other end, City grew into the game gradually, but were quickly making their own chances.

Then, there was a big blow for Chelsea just after the half-hour mark. Morata, who had looked dangerous, pulled a muscle and had to be substituted for Willian.

The change meant that, although the Blues had a strong attack, they were without a recognised centre-forward. Despite that, the Blues continued to look dangerous. Sure enough, early in the second-half, Hazard was fouled in a dangerous area. The ball was passed out to Hazard, again, who drew a save from the goalkeeper.

Marcos Alonso made a brilliant block at the other end to prevent a City goal, but the Sky Blues scored with their next attack.

After the opening goal, the Blues had chances to get back in the game, while the defence stayed strong to keep it at one-nil, but de Bruyne’s was the only goal in the game.

Next up for Chelsea is an away match against Crystal Palace on 14th October.